Cristina Ramos-Payne didn’t like what happened at her daughter’s religious education class this past weekend.
The night before, the pastor at her church spoke about how, as a child, he discovered his parents putting Christmas presents under their tree…
One student from [daughter] Sierra’s class suddenly realized that his parents must be leaving presents and cried that night about the loss of Santa. He told this to the religious ed. teacher. The teacher then took it upon himself to explain that Santa is not real. Then he took it a step further and told them that the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy were not real either.
… since when did pastors start telling the truth?
Anyway, nine-year-old Sierra made an even more astonishing connection and put it in her own words perfectly (emphases hers):
… does a teacher have to start acting like they’re his children and say Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and The Tooth Fairy is not real? That they’re just your parents faking them? When he said that yesterday I connected it to saints and thought, “Well, with Santa, then you’re basically saying that St. Nickolas is not real, which makes it sound like you shouldn’t believe in even the Lord!” It’s putting to muerte a child’s dreams, beliefs, and faith.. Making them feel like “Well, then why believe in anything!” And that’s just sad.
This is one intelligent girl.
Sierra, as devastating as this news might be to you right now, it won’t put a stop to your dreams at all. In fact, you now have more options. Believe it or not, some careers revolve around discovering the truth about how the world works. For your first task, I encourage you to find out other lies adults tell children! (Hint: Mommy and Daddy aren’t really taking a “nap”…)
Will discovering the truth about Santa and God throw a wrench in your beliefs and your faith? Well, I can only hope… but you’re better off without them, anyway.
You’re smart and you’ll find a way to live a happy, ethical life without God in your life.
(Thanks to April for the link!)
